Uriel was already used to sudden teleportation, so he wasn’t very shocked.

On the other hand, Emrys had advanced by leaps and bounds in his spatial elemental control; he saw the warp happen even before Uriel did.

Samael, though, was not ready. Not in the least.

"OH MY G—"

SHOO!

Samael didn’t have the time to finish screaming as, in one moment, he felt like he was falling across an infinite abyss toward his death, and in the next, his feet made contact with the ground.

He instantly fell to his knees and began to vomit.

Uriel threw him a glance as he blinked. ’Was it that bad for me as well? I don’t really remember...’

He shook his head, then began to observe his surroundings, the place the lock had teleported them into.

’Quite plain.’

He stood on a stretching sea of what he could only call crystal water. It was solid as crystal, yet as sloshy and fluid as water; it made absolutely no sense.

In the depths of this crystal sea and across the waters, countless twisted reflections could be seen, superimposing and bouncing off one another to form maddening mandalas of infinity.

But it was strange. These images of madness only flashed when one looked deep into the water; otherwise, it was nothing but a strange and flowing body of sparkling blue water.

On the horizon, Uriel could see a gigantic palace entirely made out of white jade, and even beyond that, there was a gigantic bowl-like brazier within which humongous dark flames burned.

The place was magical beyond words and anything but plain.

’Alright, maybe plain is an exaggeration.’ He chuckled as he further studied the space. ’It truly is pretty.’

He looked up. ’Ah.’

The skies were entirely dark, but it wasn’t simply darkness.

Within that darkness, Uriel was almost sure that the entirety of Kael was reflected, as if he were staring at it from the skies—as if—

’—this is a mirror space of sorts? That’s interesting.’

He had never heard of such a thing, but he wasn’t very surprised. His understanding of space was still relatively rudimentary.

"You okay?" he asked Samael, who still seemed sick from the sudden travel.

Just as he was about to go and check up on him, his senses sharpened and he instantly turned, the Broken Fang of Hate appearing in his grasp just as his spell sentry unfurled for the first time in a long time.

"...you?"

The person—the thing—that stood in front of him was the Horror. The same one he’d seen mere hours ago.

But it looked entirely different. Now, it wore beautiful white robes, layered and woven across its frame, embroidered with depictions of roaring dragons and soaring phoenixes.

More than that, its presence now seemed loved and almost worshipped by the world, its aura that of peace and tranquility, as vast and deep as the seas and distant as the skies.

The halo of golden blood spinning atop its head only added to its divine allure, a stark contrast with its demonic and twisted visage, plain yet a reflection of pure agony, of endless asphyxia.

Uriel’s gaze sharpened. ’How the hell did it get stronger so fast? Did it follow me—’

"Uriel," the Horror spoke. "You always impress me more and more as time passes, regardless of how much I think I overestimate you."

This time, its voice was much more pronounced, feminine in nature and as smooth as flowing water.

"You always subvert expectations, but, ah, what else is to be expected from one of the Primordial Founders of the Circle, hm?"

Uriel’s pupils narrowed to pinholes.

"You somehow managed to wield Laws you don’t comprehend, disperse energy beyond your existential state, and gain access to this space, all of that while only using your wits and a broken Divine Pupil prototype."

She chuckled. "My, my, oh my. Aren’t you amazing? Aren’t you the greatest, hm?"

She smiled, slowly, sending chills down his spine as her thin lips spread across the seal of her leathery grey skin.

"I am Lucianna, by the way. It’s great to meet you," she said, her smile widening.

This time, though, her smile didn’t disturb Uriel.

"..."

He lowered his Fang, then stored it away just as his sentry faded and his raging aether cooled down. His gaze regained stability.

But he still didn’t speak.

"The thing you saw outside is not me, just so we are clear. That is merely one of my vassals. Hopefully the little lass didn’t rub you the wrong way?"

His lack of response didn’t seem to phase her; instead, it almost seemed to excite her.

She waved a hand. "Come." She turned to the palace and began to walk toward it.

"We have quite a bit to talk about."

...

Though she said so, the group remained quiet for a long time, slowly making their way toward the palace.

Samael was quiet, riding on Emrys’ back, and the latter himself seemed quite disturbed. Not by Lucianna, but by Uriel himself.

He was too gloomy, and his gaze was so void it sent shivers down his spine.

But he couldn’t understand why. Uriel wasn’t the type to fall into despair in the face of a trap or an enemy he couldn’t defeat, nor was he the type to be gloomy in general.

The Uriel he knew always had a smile on his face, always ready to die if it meant his heart could beat in ecstasy one more time.

Uriel was like him.

But what he was seeing... worried him.

"Lucianna." Uriel broke the silence.

He moved to clasp his hands behind his back.

"Yes?"

Uriel took a couple of steps and caught up to her, walking beside her, shoulder to shoulder. The act shook her, for some reason, but she didn’t let it show.

"Your vassal, he said quite a lot of things. Mainly, he said that, one, I should not ascend the Spire, and two, that my blood would bring me trouble."

He looked at her, staring deep into her burning blue eyes, his own rose pupils a reflection of pure tranquility.

No, to call it tranquility would be wrong. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

When she stared into his eyes, she felt wrath that burned so hot it turned deathly cold, as if it had reached its peak and looped back to its polar opposite.

She felt such chaos, such furious movement that it seemed still.

She felt a Will ready to explode.

"He told me that I guessed correctly in the fact he was tasked to stay in the forest, to wait for me."

"And in all evidence, since you call me a Founder of the Circle, then that means you know me, to a certain extent."

His gaze peeled away from her, focusing on the palace in the distance. "But that’s neither here nor there."

Lucianna felt a hint of a threat in his voice but didn’t comment.

"Please, tell me what these warnings were about, and tell me what this will be about. The palace, the brazier, the Horrors—tell me."

Lucianna chuckled, then patted his shoulder. "Oh my, why are you being such a downer? Why else would I have lured your little fox if not to tell you the truth?"

She rolled her eyes. "But I understand. The lack of information is starting to frustrate you. But it is, in part, what you chose."

"You chose the sin, and those are its consequences. None can tell you anything for fear of Fate, and Karmic Echoes are strong enough to kill us all."

She shrugged. "But I do not care. I’ll tell you. If you die from the echoes, well, too bad. It’s not like you had much time left anyway."

Uriel threw her a glance. "You know a lot about me."

She looked at him, meeting his gaze. "I know everything."

But she didn’t elaborate.

"The warning about the Spire? It’s very simple. If you go, you will die a horrible death. That is it. You will simply die."

"Die? From what?"

"From everything. I don’t know the future, nor am I a Fate Scryer, but my relation to time and karma is rather peculiar."

"I simply know that something horrible will happen in that Spire, something so dark it could only be death. But I suppose there’s a chance it’s not death."

"But whatever it is, if it doesn’t kill you, it’ll make you want to kill yourself. Plus, I doubt you’re strong enough to climb the Spire and clear its challenges."

She threw her hands into the air. "I don’t really want you to die, so here’s a warning. Be thankful."

Uriel slowly nodded, unfazed. "Mm. Thanks."

"As for your blood? It’s even simpler. Your grandmother is powerful, and powerful people have their legacies echo across their blood."

"But in turn, powerful people open doors within themselves through their descendants. They gain karma and fate from them, but in turn, they must also dish out some power."

"It’s a give-and-take relationship." She paused for a moment.

"But, in short, if you die, your grandmother dies." She laughed.

"You’re her Achilles’ heel."